Why Would I Want to Take the Stairs?

If you've ever been sitting in the lobby of a multi-storied building waiting for the elevator to arrive, you may be familiar with this picture. A couple questions come to mind when I see it. First off, WHY THE HELL WOULD I WANT TO TAKE THE STAIRS WHEN THERE'S FIRE RIGHT UNDERNEATH THEM??? I mean, come on! Sure, maybe the elevator would malfunction and I could be stuck in there, but it's better than diving right into the fire-laden stairwell.

Second, what kind of gimp are they forcing to take the stairs during a fire emergency? This guy's got a bum leg or something, probably never taken the stairs in his life after returning from 'Nam in '72 and now a building fire is forcing him to hobble down 9 flights of stairs. That's just messed up!

Finally, let's give the artist the benefit of the doubt and say that it is a person of normal mobility taking the stairs. That is clearly not the most common reaction if there was a fire in the building, especially a fire directly under the stairs. They should have that guy leaping down a half-flight at a time, arms flailing in the air, and trampling dozens of other people just to get to the bottom and find out it was a fire drill. That's more like the American way.